Lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram

The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram' or LBRP is one of the most influential rituals of modern occultism. It was devised by the Golden Dawn, but is based on a traditional Jewish prayer that invokes the archangels for protection - most commonly found in the Siddur among the prayers to be said before going to sleep. After it's dissemination in the teachings of the Golden Dawn, it was subsequently adopted by other occult movements such as Thelema, Wicca, the Aurum Solis and more, with or without variations.

The LBRP is used to clear one's working space - whether that be oneself, the Circle, Temple, or the Universe in general - of negative influences. In the Golden Dawn it is taught to Neophytes as a daily ritual so that they may learn to banish harmful forces from their immediate situation, and from their whole lives in general.

Make in the Air toward the East the invoking PENTAGRAM as shown and, bring the point of the dagger to the centre of the Pentagram, vibrate the DEITY NAME - YOD HE VAU HE - imagining that your voice carries forward to the East of the Universe.

Holding the dagger out before you, go to the South, make the Pentagram and vibrate similarly the deity name - ADONAI.

Go to the West, make the Pentagram and vibrate EHEIEH.

Go to the North, make the Pentagram and vibrate AGLA.

Return to the East and complete your circle by bringing the dagger point to the centre of the first Pentagram.

1. As a form of prayer the invoking ritual should be used in the morning and the banishing in the evening.

The NAMES should be pronounced inwardly in the breat vibrating it as much as possible and feeling that the whole body throbs with the sound and sends out a wave of vibration directed to the ends of the quarter.

2. As a protection against impure magnetism, the Banishing Ritual can be used to get rid of obsessing or disturbing thoughts. Give a mental image to your obsession and imagine it formulated before you. Project it out of your aura with the Saluting Sign of a Neophyte, and when it is about three feet away, prevent its return with the Sign of Silence.

Now imagine the form in the East before you and do the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram to disintegrate it, seeing it, in your mind's eye, dissolving of the further side of your ring of flame.

3. It can be used as an exercise in concentration. Seated in meditation or lying down, formulate yourself standing up in robes and holding a dagger. Put your consciousness in this form and go the the East. Make yourself "feel" there by touching the wall, opening your eyes, stamping on the floor, etc.

Begin the Ritual and go round the room mentally vibrating the words and trying to feel them as coming from the form.

Finish in the East and try to see your results in the Astral Light, then walk back and stand behind the head of your body and let yourself be re-absorbed.

↑Compare the original Hebrew prayer, which translates thus:
"At my right hand, Michael;
And at my left hand, Gabriel;
And before me Uriel;
And behind me, Raphael;
And the Presence (Shechinah) of God upon my head."
By Jewish tradition, the invocant would be facing East, thus placing Uriel in the East, Michael in the South, etc. This arrangement of the Archangels to the quarters is consistent with other Jewish writings, such as Sefer HaBahir and the Book of Enoch. Some religious historians have found other forms of this invocation utilizing early Semitic gods.

↑This last sentence, apparently copied from the original GD material, is very badly worded. The Invoking Earth Pentagram involves starting from the top-most point, tracing down to the bottom-left (Earth) point, and then following the natural order around back to the top-most point. However the Banishing Earth Pentagram involves starting at the bottom-left (Earth) point, tracing up to the top-most point, and then following the other points round again in natural succession.